Life  and  character  of  Hon.  Thomas 
Ruff In 


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LIFE  AND  CHARACTER 


OF  THE 


HON.  THOMAS  RUFFIN, 


Late  Chief  Justice  of  North  Carolina. 


^  MEMORIAL  ORATION, 


WILLIAM  A.  GRAHAM, 


Delivered  before  the  Agricultural  Society  of  the  State,  by  its  request, 
at  the  Annual  Fair  in  Raleigh,  Oct.  21st,  1870. 


EALEIGH,  N.  (J. 


NlCnOIiS  &  GOKMAN,   BOOK   AND  JOB  rBINTER.S. 


LIFE  AND   CHARACTER 


OF  THE 


HOJ(.  THOMAS  RUFFIN, 


Late  Chief  Justice  of  North  Carolina. 


A  MEMORIAL  ORATION, 


BY 


T\1LLIA]\I  A.  GRAHA^r, 

Delivered  before  the  Agricultural  Society  of  the  State,  by  its  request, 
at  the  Annual  Fair  in  Raleigh,  Oct.   21st,  1870. 


EALEIGH,  K  0.: 

NICHOLS   &   GOKMAX,    BOOK  AXD   JOB   PRIXTERS. 

1871. 


ORATION. 


The  patriotic  people  of  tbe  Coimty  of  Kockingliam 
in  a  public  assemblage  at  tbeir  first  Superior  Court 
after  tbe  deatb  of  Cbief  Justice  Euffix,  in  which 
they  were  joined  with  cordial  sympathy  by  the  gen- 
tlemen of  the  bar  of  that  Court,  resolved  to  manifest 
their  appreciation  of  his  talents,  virtues  and  pubhc 
usefulness,  by  causing  to  be  pronounced  a  memorial 
oration  on  his  life  and  character.  Such  an  offering 
was  deemed  by  them  a  fitting  tribute  from  a  people 
among  whom  his  fiimily  first  settled  upon  their  arri- 
val in  Xorth  Carolina,  and  with  whom  he  had  been 
associated  as  a  planter  and  cultivator  of  the  soil  from 
his   early  manhood   till   his   decease. 

The  Agricultural  Society  of  the  State,  of  which  for 
many  years  he  had  been  a  distinguished  President, 
subsequently  determined  on  a  like  offering  to  his  mem- 
ory at  their  annual  Fair.  The  invitation  to  prepare 
such  a  discourse  has  been  by  both  l)odies  extended  to 
the  same  individual.  The  task  is  undertaken  with  dif- 
fidence, and  a  sense  of  apprehension,  that  amid  the 
multiplicity  of  other  engagements,  its  fulfilment  may 
fail    in   doing  justice    to   the   subject   of  the   memoir. 

Thomas  Ruffin,  the  eldest  child  of  his  parents,  was 
born  at  ^''ewington,  the  residence  of  his  macernal 
(rrand  Father,  Thomas  Ptoane,  in  the  County  of  King 
and  (,)ueen,  in  Virginia,  on  the  17t]i  of  Xovember, 
1787. 


4  Life  and  Cliaracter  of  the 

His  Father,  Sterling  Euffin,  Esquire,  was  a  planter 
in  the  neighboring  County  of  Essex,  who  subse- 
quently transferred  his  residence  to  I^orth  Carolina, 
and  died  in  the  County  of  Caswell.  Ardent  in  his 
religious  sentiments,  and  long  attached  to  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church,  he  very  late  in  life,  entered 
the  ministry,  and  was  for  a  few  years  prior  to  his 
death,   a  preacher  in   that   denomination. 

His  Mother,  Ahce  Eoane,  was  of  a  family  much 
distinguished  in  Virginia  by  the  public  service  of 
many  of  its  members,  and  was  herself  first  cousin 
of  Spencer  Eoane,  the  Chief  Justice  of  that  State 
in  the  past  generation,  whose  judicial  course,  con- 
nected as  it  was  with  questions  of  difficulty  and 
importance  in  constitutional  law,  gave  him  high  pro- 
fessional, as  well  as  political,  distinction ;  but  it  may 
well  be  doubted,  whether,  in  all  that  constitutes  a 
great  lawyer,  he  had  any  pre-eminence  over  the  sub- 
ject of  our  present  notice,  his  junior  kinsman  in 
Xorth  Carohna,  then  but  rising  into  fame,  and  des- 
tined to  fiU  the  like  office  in  his  own  State. 

His  Father,  though  not  affluent,  had  a  respectable 
fortune,  and  sought  for  the  son  the  best  means  of 
education.  His  early  boyhood  was  passed  on  the 
farm  in  Essex,  and  in  attendance  on  the  schools  of 
the  vicinity.  Thence,  at  a  suitable  age,  he  was  sent 
to  a  classical  Academy  in  the  beautiful  and  health- 
ful village  of  Warrenton,  in  North  Carolina,  then 
under  the  instruction  of  Mr.  Marcus  George,  an 
Irishman  by  birth  and  education,  a  fine  classical 
scholar  and  most  painstaking  and  skillful  instructor, 
especially    in    elocution,    as    we    must    believe,    since 


Hon.  Thomas  Rnjjln.  5 

amoug    his   pupils    who    survived    to    our    times,   we 
fiud  the     best  readers    of    our   acquaiutance    iu  their 
day.      His   excellence   in   this  particular    was   probablj'- 
attributable  to  his  experience  on    the  theatrical  stage, 
where     he    had    spent    a    portion    of    his    life.      He 
made    his    first     appearance    in     the    State    at     the 
Convention  in   Hillsborough,    in    1788,  which    rejected 
the   Federal    Constitution,    in    search   of    employment 
as  a  teacher,  was  engaged  by  the  Warren   gentlemen 
then    in     attendance,    and    many    years    subsequently 
was     still    at    the    head    of   a  flourishing   school,    in 
which    our  student    entered.       The    system    and    dis- 
cipline   of     Mr.     George    conformed    to    the    ancient 
regime^   and  placed    great    faith    in    the  rod.      He  is 
described  as    a  man  of   much  personal    prowess    and 
spirit,   who  did   not    scruple   to    administer  it  on    his 
pupils,  when  sloth,  delinquency  or  misbehavior  requu:ed, 
without  reference  to  age,  size  or  other  circumstances. 
Yet  he  secured  the  respect  of    his  patrons,   and  the 
confidence  of   the    public,   and  inspu^ed  the    gratitude 
and  affection    of   his  pupils  in  a  remarkable    degree. 
This    turning    aside    from    our    subject,    to    pay    a 
passing  tribute  to  his  old  preceptor,   is  deemed  to  be 
justified  not   only  by    the    long    and   useful   labors   of 
Mr.   George,   in  the  instruction   of  youth  in   the   gen- 
eration in  which  Mr.  Kuffin's  lot  was  cast,  but  because 
he  himself  entertained  the  highest  appreciation  of  the 
profession    of    an    instructor,    accustoming    himself   to 
speak  of  it  as    one  of  the  most  honorable  and  bene- 
ficent  of   human   employments.     Throughout  his   labo- 
rious and    well-spent  life,   he  often    acknowledged  his 


6  Life  and  Character  of  the 

obligations  of  gratitude  for  the  earl}^  training  lie  liad 
received  under  the  tuition  of  this  faithful,  but  some- 
what eccentric    son    of    Erin.    And    it    may    well  be 
doubted  whether  Lord   Eldou,   in  the  maturity  of  his 
wisdom  and  great  age,  retained  a  more  grateful  and 
affectionate  recollection  of  Master  Moises  of  the   High 
School  of  IS'ew  Gastle,   than  did   Chief  Justice  Eufifin 
of  Master  George  of  the  Warrenton  Male  Academy. 
At  this  institution  were  assembled  the   sons  of  most 
of  the  citizens  of  Eastern  North  Carolina  and  the  bor- 
dering counties  of    Virginia,  aspiring  to  a  liberal  edu- 
cation.      And    here    were    formed    friendships,    which 
he  cherished  with  great    satisfaction    throughout    lite. 
Among  his  companions  were  the  late  Eobeit  Broad- 
nax,  of  Eockingham,   subsequently  a    planter  of  large 
possessions   on  Dan  Eiver,   among  the  most  estimable 
gentlemen  of  his  time;   and  Cadwallader  Jones,   then 
of   Halifax,    but    afterwards    of    Orange,    at    different 
periods  an  officer  in  the  l^avy  and  in  the  Army  of 
the  United  States,  a  successful  planter,   and  a  model 
of  the  manners   and  virtues   which  give    a   charm    to 
social  intercourse.    With  both  of  these  gentlemen  his 
early  attachments  were  in  after  life   cemented  by  the 
union   in  marriage    of  their  children.      Here,    too,    he 
found  ^Yeldon  I^.   Edwards,   of  Warren,    subsequently* 
distinguished  by  much  public  service  in  Congress  and    * 
under  the    Government    of    the   State,    thenceforward 
his   lifelong   friend,     with   whom   his  bonds    of    amity 
seemed  to  be  drawn  more  closely  as  others  of  his  con- 
temporaries  dropped   from  around  him.     Of  these  four 
youths  of  the  Warrenton  Academy,  at  the  beginning  of 


Hon.  Thomas  Biiffin.  7 

the  nineteeutli  century,  Mr.  Edwards  alone  surw^es. 
Long  may  he  live  to  enjoy  the  veneration  and  respect 
dne  to  a  life  of  probity,  honor  and  usefulness. 

From  the  WaiTenton  Academy  young  Euffin  was 
transferred  to  the  College  of  Nassau  Hall,  at  Prince- 
ton, New  Jersey.  It  is  believed  that  his  father,  who 
was  a  deeply  pious  man,  was  controlled  in  the  selec- 
tion of  this  College  in  preference  to  that  of  William  & 
Mary,  in  Virginia,  next  to  Harvard  University  the 
oldest  institution  of  learning  in  the  United  States,  not 
only  by  a  desire  to  place  his  son  in  an  unsuspected 
situation  as  to  his  health,  which  had  suffered  from  the 
malarial  influences  prevaihng  in  the  tidewater  region 
of  Eastern  Ykginia,  but  to  secure  him  as  well  fiom 
the  temptation  incident  to  College  hfe,  in  an  institu- 
tion, in  which  as  he  supposed,  there  was  too  loose 
an  authority  and  discipline  exerted  over  the  sons  of 
aflluence  and  ease.  He  entered  the  Freshman  class,  at 
Princeton,  and  '^graduated  at  the  commencement  in 
1805;"  the  sixteenth  in  a  class  of  forty-two  mem- 
bers, '*  being  the  first  of  the  second  division  of  in- 
termediate honors."  The  late  Governor  James  Ire- 
dell, of  North  Carolina,  was  in  the  class  succeeding 
his  own,  and  for  nearly  the  whole  of  his  College 
course,  his  room-mate.  Thus  commenced  a  filendship 
between  these  gentlemen  in  youth,  which  was  termin- 
ated only  by  the  death  of  Mr.  Iredell.  Among  oth- 
ers of  his  College  associates  who  became  distinguished 
in  subsequent  life,  there  were  Samuel  L.  Southard 
and  Theodore  Frelinghuysen,  of  New  Jersey,  Joseph 
K.   lugersoll,  of    Philadelphia,  the   Cuthberts  and  Ha- 


8  Life  and  Character  of  the 

bershams,  of  Georgia,  Christopher  Hughes  of  Maryland, 
and   Stevenson  Archer,   of    Mississippi. 

Eeturning  home  with  his  bachelor  degree,  Mr.  Euf- 
fin  soon  afterwards  entered  the  law  office  of  David 
Eobertson,  Esquk-e,  of  Petersbm^g,  as  a  student  of 
the  law,  and  continued  there  through  the  years  1806 
and  1807.  Here  he  was  associated  as  fellow-student 
with  John  F.  May,  afterwards  Judge  May,  of  Pe- 
tersburg, and  Winfield  Scott,  afterwards  so  highly  dis- 
tinguished in  arms,  and  the  only  officer  down  to  his 
time,  except  General  Washington,  who  attained  the 
rank  of  Lieutenant  General  in  the  army  of  the  United 
States.  General  Scott,  in  his  Autobiography,  describes 
their  preceptor,  Mr.  Kobinson,  as  a  Scotchman,  a  very 
learned  scholar  and  barrister,  who  originally  came  to 
America  as  a  classical  teacher ;  but  subsequently  gained 
high  distinction  as  a  lawyer,  and  was  the  author  of  the 
report  of  the  debates  in  the  Virginia  Convention 
which  adopted  the  Federal  Constitution,  and  of  the 
report  of  the  trial  of  Aaron  Burr  for  high  treason. 
In  a  note  to  the  same  work.  General  Scott  mentions 
his  chancing  to  meet  Judge  Euffin  in  N'ew  York  in 
1853,  while  the  latter  was  attending  as  a  delegate, 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Convention,  of  the  United 
States  after  a  separation  of  forty-seven  years,  and 
recurs  to  their  association  together  with  Judge  May, 
as  law  students,  and  to  the  conversation  in  which 
they  then  indulged,  with  manifest  pride  and  pleasure. 
He  also  refers  to  their  subsequent  intercourse  in  the 
city  of  Washington,  in  1861,  while  Judge  Euffin  was 
serving  as  a  member  of  the  Peace  Congress,  and  ex- 


Hon.   Tlwmas  Euffni.  9 

presses  the  opiiiiuu,  that,  "if  the  sentiments  of  this 
good  man,  always  highly  conservative  (the  same  as 
Crittenden's,")  had  prevailed,  the  country  would  have 
escaped  the  sad  inflictions  of  the  war,  which  was 
radnii  at  the   time  he  wrote. 

Sterhng  Ruffin,  the  father,  having  suffered  some  re- 
verses of  fortune,  determined  to  change  his  home, 
and  removed  to  Eockingham  County,  North  Carolina, 
in  1807.  His  son  soon  fohowed,'  a  wilhng  emigrant. 
It  was  in  :N'orth  Carolina  he  had  received  his  first 
training  for  useful  life:  here  was  the  home  of  most 
of  his  early  friends,  and  here  he  confidently  hoped 
to  renew  his  association  with  Broadnax,  Jones,  Ed- 
wards,  Iredell  and  other  kindred   spirits. 

He  doubtless  brought  with  him  a  considerable  store 
of  professional  learning  from  the  office  of  Mr.  Eob- 
ertson,  in  which  he  had  been  more  than  two  years  a 
student,  but  on  his  arrival  in  :Nrorth  Carolina,  he 
pursued  his  further  studies  under  the  direction  of  the 
Honorable  A.  D.  Murphey,  until  his  admission  to  the 
bar,  in  1808.  Early  in  1809,  he  estabhshed  his  home 
in  the  town  of  Hillsborough,  and  on  the  9th  of  De- 
cember, in  that  year,  he  was  united  in  marriage 
with  Miss  Anne  Kirkland,  eldest  daughter  of  the 
late  Wihiam  Kirkland,  of  that  place,  a  prominent 
merchant  and  leading    citizen. 

The  twenty  years  next  ensuing,  during  which  his 
residence  was  continually  in  Hihsborough,  comprehends 
his  career  at  the  bar  and  on  the  Bench  of  the  Su- 
perior Courts.  In  1813,  1815  and  1816,  he  served 
as  a  member    of   the    Legislature   in    the    House    of 


10  Life  and  Cliaracter  of  the 

Commons  from  this  town,  under  the  old  Constitutiony 
and  filled  the  office  of  Speaker  of  the  House,  at  the 
last  mentioned  session,  when  first  elected  a  Judge 
upon  the  resignation  of  that  office  by  Duncan  Cam- 
eron. He  was  also  a  candidate  on  the  electoral 
ticket  in  favor  of  Wihiam  H.  Crawford  for  the  Pres- 
idency of  the  United  States,  in  1824.  But  his  as- 
pirations, tastes  and  interests  inclined  him  not  to  po- 
litical honors,  but  to  a  steady  adherence  to  the  pro- 
fession to  which  his  life  was  devoted.  He  found  at 
the  bar  in  Orange  and  the  neighboring  counties  to 
which  his  practice  was  extended  several  gentlemen, 
his  seniors  in  years,  who  were  no  ordinary  competi 
tors  for  forensic  fame  and  patronage;  of  whom  it 
may  be  sufficient  to  name  Archibald  D.  Mm^Dhey,  Fred- 
erick :N"ash,  William  l^orwood,  Duncan  Cameron,  (who 
although  he  had  suspended  his  practice  for  a  time, 
resumed  it  not  long  after  Mr.  Euffin  came  to  the 
bar,)  Henry  Seawell,  Leonard  Henderson,  Wilham 
Eobards,  I^icholas  P.  Smith,  of  Chatham,  and  later  of 
Tennessee.  His  first  essays  in  argument  are  said  not 
to  have  been  very  fortunate.  His  manner  was  diffi- 
dent and  his  speech  hesitating  and  embarrassed.  But 
these  difficulties  being  soon  overcome,  the  vigor  of 
his  understanding,  the  extent  and  accuracy  of  his 
learning,  and  his  perfect  mastery  of  his  causes  by 
diligent  preparation,  in  a  short  time  gave  him  posi- 
tion among  these  veterans  of  the  profession,  secured 
him  a  general  and  lucrative  practice,  and  an  easy 
accession  to  the  Bench  in  seven  years  from  his  ini- 
tiation at  the  bar.     His  reputation    was    greatly    ad- 


Hon.   Thomas  JRuffin.  11 

vanced  and  extended  by  the  manner  in  which  he  ac- 
(initted  himself  in  this  oflQce.  The  ^wants,  however, 
of  an  increasing  family  and  an  unfortunate  involve- 
nieiit  hy  suretyship  forbade  his  continuance  in  a  sit- 
uation of  no  better  income  than  the  salary  which 
was  its  compensation.  He  resigned  to  the  Legislature 
of  1818,  and  immediately  returned  to  the  practice. 
Mr.  Euffin  had  kept  up  habits  of  close  study  of  his 
profession  before  his  promotion  to  the  Bench,  and 
the  leisure  aflorded  by  the  vacations  of  the  office  was 
eagerly  availed  of,  for  the  same  object.  He  came 
back  to  the  bar  not  only  with  his  health  renovated, 
which  had  never  been  very  robust,  but  with  a  bright- 
ness in  his  learning  and  an  increase  of  fame,  which, 
in  the  Supreme  Court  then  recently  estabhshed  on  its 
l)resent  basis,  and  in  the  Circuit  Court  of  the  United 
States,  as  well  as  on  the  ridings  in  the  State  Courts, 
brought  to  him  a  practice  and  an  income,  which  has 
hardly  ever  been  equalled  in  the  case  of  any  other 
practitioner  in  i^orth  Carolina.  For  forty-three  weeks 
in  the  year  he  had  his  engagements  in  Court,  and 
despite  of  all  conditions  of  the  weather  or  other  im- 
pediments to  travelling  in  the  then  state  of  the  coun- 
try, rarely  fliiled  to  fulfil  them.  He  held  the  appoint- 
ment of  Eeporter  of  the  decisions  of  the  Supreme 
Court  for  one  or  two  terms,  but  rehnquished  it  from 
the  engrossment  of  his  time  by  his  practice ;  and 
his  labors  are  embraced  in  the  prior  part  of  the 
first  volume  of  Hawks.  Mr.  Archibald  Henderson, 
Mr.  Gaston,  Mr.  Seawell,  Mr.  Murphey,  Mr.  Moses 
Mordecai,   Mr.  Gavin  Hogg,  and  Mr.  Joseph  Wilson, 


12  Life  and  Character  of  the 

all  men   of   renown,   were,   with  Mr.  Euffin,  the   chief 
advocates   in  the   Supreme   Court    at  that  period,   Mr. 
Kash   and  Mr.   Badger    being  then  upon   the   Bench; 
and  according  to   tradition,   at  no  time   have  the  ar-^ 
guments  before  it  been    more   thorough    and  exhaus- 
tive.    The  late   Governor   Swain  being  a  part   of  this 
period  a  student  of   the  law    in    the    office   of  Chief 
Justice   Taylor,   in    a  public   address   at    the    opening 
at  Tucker  Hall,  in  which  he  gave  many  reminiscences 
of    former  times  in  Ealeigh,   mentions   a  prediction  in 
his  hearing  of   Mr.   Gaston  to   one    ot    his   clients   in 
1822,   that  if   Mr.   Eufl&n  should  live  ten  years  longer 
he  would  be  at  the  head  of  the  profession  in  [N'orth 
Carolina.      By    the  same    authority  we  are  informed, 
that  only  a  year  or  two  later.  Judge  Henderson  de- 
clared   that    he    had    then    attained    this  position  of 
eminence.    Among  the  professional  gentlemen  he  met 
in  the.  wide  range    of     his    practice  on    the    circuits, 
in  addition  to  his  seniors  already  named,   were   Bart- 
lett    Yancey,   Augustine    H.    Shepperd,    Eomulus    M. 
Saunders,   James  Martin,   Thomas    P.  Devereux,   Jas. 
F.   Taylor,   Charles  Manly,    Wm.    H.    Haywood,    Jr., 
Daniel  L.  Barringer,   Samuel    Hillman,  John  M.   and 
James  T.  Morehead,   Bedford   Brown,   Wilhe    P.   and 
Priestly  H.  Mangum,   Francis  L.   Hawks,   Thos.   Set- 
tle, John   M.  Dick,    George   C  Mendenhall,    and  sev- 
eral others,   of   high  distinction    among  the    advocates 
and  pubUc  characters   of   the   State;    by  all  of  whom 
his  eminent  abilities  and    attainments    were  fully    ac- 
knowledged and  appreciated. 

In  the  summer  of   1825,   upon  the    resignation    of 


Hon,    Thomas   Buffni.  13 

Judge  Badger,  ]\Ir.  Euffiu  again  accepted  the  appoint- 
liieiit  of  a  Judge  of  the  Superior  Courts.  His  recent 
successes  had  reheved  hiui  of  embarrassment,  and 
supphed  him  a  competent  fortune  ;  his  health  deman- 
ded relaxation  and  rest;  and  his  duties  to  his  family, 
now  quite  numerous,  in  his  estimation  required  more 
of  his  presence  at  home  than  was  consistent  with 
the  very  active  life  he  was  leading.  He  therefore 
relinquished  his  great  emoluments  at  the  bar  for  the 
inadequate  salary  then  paid  to  a  Judge,  and  virtually 
closed  his  career  as  an  advocate.  By  the  bar  and  the 
public  he  was  welcomed  back  on  the  circuits,  and  for 
the  three  following  years  he  administered  the  law  with 
such  universal  admiration  and  acceptance,  both  on  the 
part  of  the  profession  and  the  people,  that  he  was 
generally  designated  by  the  public  approbation  for  the 
succession  to  the  Bench  of  the  Supreme  Court  when- 
ever a  vacancy  should  occur. 

The  reputation  he  had  established  by  this  time, 
however,  did  not  merely  assign  him  capabilities  as  a 
lawyer,  but  ascribed  to  him  every  qualification  of  a 
thorough  man  of  affairs.  It  was  conceded,  at  least, 
that  he  could  teach  bankers,  banking  and  merchants 
the  science  of  accounts. 

In  the  Autumn  of  1828,  the  stockholders  of  the  old 
State  Bank  of  Xorth  Carolina,  at  the  head  of  whom 
were  William  Polk,  Peter  Browne  and  Duncan  Cam- 
eron, owing  to  the  great  embarrassment  of  the  affairs 
of  this  institution,  involving  disfavor  with  the  public, 
and  threats  of  judicial  proceedings  for  a  forfeiture  of 
its  charter,  prevailed  on  him  to  take  tlie  Presidency  of 


14  Life  and  Character  of  the 

the  Bank,  with  a  salary  increased  to  the  procurement 
of  his  acceptance ;  and  with  the  privilege  on  his  part 
to  practice  his  profession  in  the  city  of  Ealeigh.  In 
twelve  months  devoted  to  this  office,  with  his  charac- 
teristic energy,  mastering  the  affairs  of  the  Bank  with 
a  true  talent  for  finance,  making  available  its  assets 
and  providing  for  its  liabilities,  and  inspiring  confidence 
by  the  general  faith  in  his  abilities  and  high  purpose 
to  do  right,  he  effectually  redeemed  the  institution, 
and  prepared  the  w^ay  to  close  out  in  credit  the  re- 
maining term  of  its  charter. 

At  this  period,  also,  another  place  of  high  political 
eminence  was  at  his  choice,  but  w^as  promptly  declined. 
A  vacancy  having  happened  in  the  Senate  of  the  Uni- 
ted States  by  the  appointment  of  Governor  Branch 
to  the  head  of  the  Navy  department,  and  the  Honor- 
able Bartlett  Yancey,  who  had  been  the  general  favor- 
ite for  the  succession,  having  recently  died,  Mr.  Rufiin 
was  earnestly  sohcited  to  accept  a  candidacy  for  this 
position  with  every  assurance  of  success.  But  his  de- 
sire was,  as  he  himself  expressed  it  among  his  friends, 
^'  after  the  labor  and  attention  he  had  bestowed  upon 
his  profession,  to  go  down  to  posterity  as  a  lawyer." 
Irrespective,  therefore,  of  his  domestic  interests,  and 
the  care  and  attention  due  to  his  family,  of  which  no 
naan  ever  had  a  truer  or  warmer  conception,  he  could 
not  be  diverted  from  his  chosen  line  of  lile  by  the  at- 
tractions of  even  the  highest  political  distinction. 

While  assiduously  employed  in  the  affairs  of  the 
Bank,  to  which  was  devoted  the  year  1821),  his  services 
Avere   still  demanded   by    clients  in   the    higher  couits, 


Hon.    Thomas   Ruffln,  15 

aud  his  reputation  at  the  bar  suffered  no  ecUpse. 
Upon  the  death  of  Chief  Justice  Taylor,  in  this  year, 
the  Executive  appointment  of  a  successor  was  confer- 
red on  a  gentleman  of  merited  eminence  in  the  pro- 
fession, and  of  a  singularly  pure  and  elevated  charac- 
ter ;  hut  the  sentiment  of  the  majority  of  the  profes- 
sion as  well  as  public  opinion,  had  made  choice  of  Mr. 
liuffin  for  the  permanent  office,  and  he  was  elected  a 
Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  at  the  session  of  the  Leg- 
islature in  the  autumn  of  1829.  In  1833,  upon  the 
demise  of  Chief  Justice  Henderson,  he  was  elevated  to 
the  Chief  Justiceship,  in  which  he  won  that  fame 
which  will  longest  endure,  because  it  is  incorporated 
in  the  judicial  literature  of  the  country,  and  is  co-ex- 
tensive with  the  study  and  administration  of  our  sys- 
tem of  law. 

Before  directing  attention  to  his  labors  in  this  high- 
est court  of  appeals  in  the  State,  it  is  appropriate  to 
remark  on  his  prior  career  as  an  advocate,  counsellor 
and  Judge  of  the  Superior  Courts.  Of  his  arguments 
at  the  bar,  at  nisi  prius,  or  in  the  Courts  of  appeal, 
no  memorials  have  been  preserved  save  the  imperfect 
briefs  contained  in  the  causes  that  have  been  reported. 
His  nature  was  ardent,  and  his  manner  of  speech  ear- 
nest and  often  vehement  in  tone  and  gesticulation. 
Though  versed  in  hcUes  lettre^s,  and  with  tastes  to  rel- 
isli  eloquent  declamation,  it  was  a  held  into  which  he 
did  not  often,  if  at  all,  adventure.  His  reliance  was 
upon  logic,  not  upon  rhetoric;  and  even  his  illustra- 
tions were  drawn  from  things  practical,  rather  than 
the    ideal.      Analyzing   and    thoroughly    comprehending 


16  Life   and    Character  of  the 

his  cause,  he  held  it  up  plainly  to  the  view  of  others, 
and  with  a  searching  and  incisive  criticism  exposed 
and  dissipated  the  weak  points  in  that  of  his  adver- 
sary :  and  all  this,  in  a  vigorous,  terse  and  manly  Eng- 
lish, every  word  of  which  told.  Few  advocates  ever 
equaUed  him  in  presenting  so  much  ot  solid  thought 
in  the  same  number  of  words,  or  in  disentangling  com- 
plicated facts,  or  elucidating  abstruse  learning  sd*  as  to 
make  the  demonstration  complete  to  the  minds  of  the 
auditory ;  capacities,  doubtless  gained  by  severe  cul- 
ture, a  part  of  which,  as  I  learned  from  an  early  stu- 
dent in  his  office,  had  been  a  daily  habit,  long  after 
his  admission  to  the  bar,  of  going  carefully  over  the 
demonstration  of  a  theorem  in  Mathematics.  Thus 
habituated  to  abstract  and  exact  reasoning,  he  de- 
lighted in  the  approach  to  exactness  in  the  reasoning 
of  the  law,  and  no  student  could  more  truly  say  of  his 
professional  investigations,  ^^  Lahor  ipse  est  vohiptas.'^ 
The  accuracy  thus  attained  in  his  studies,  gave  him 
high  eminence  as  a  pleader,  in  causes  both  at  law  and 
in  Equity;  and  among  his  associates  usually  devolved 
on  him  the  office  of  framing  the  pleadings  in  the  causes 
in  which  they  were  engaged.  It  also  gave  him  rank 
among  the  great  counsellors  of  the  time,  whose  opin- 
ions were  not  the  result  of  cramming  for  an  occasion, 
or  a  fortunate  authority,  but  the  well  considered  reflec- 
tions of  gifted  minds  imbued  with  law  as  a  science, 
and  who  had  explored  to  their  sources,  the  principles 
uvolved  in  the  subjects  they  examined,  and  made  them 
their  own.  This  full  developement  of  his  forensic  char- 
acter does  not  appear   to   have   been   manifested    until 


Hon,  Thomas  Euffin.  17 

after  Lis  retuiu  to  the  bar  subsequently  to  his  first 
service  ou  the  bench.  But  from  this  period  tiU  his 
second  retirement,  in  1825,  he  had  hardly  a  rival  in 
the  bar  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State  or  the 
Circuit  Court  of  the  United  States,  except  Archibald 
Henderson  and  Gaston,  and  had  a  command  of  the 
practice  in  all  the  State  Courts  he  attended.  As  a 
Judge  of  the  Superior  or  nisi  prius  Courts,  he  exhib- 
ited equal  aptitude  for  the  Bench  as  for  the  practice 
at  the  Bar.  With  an  energy  that  pressed  the  business 
forward,  a  quickness  rarely  equalled  in  perceiving  and 
comprehending  facts,  patient  and  industrious  habits  of 
labor,  and  a  spirit  of  command  which  suffered  no  time 
to  be  lost,  he  despatched  causes  with  expedition,  but 
with  no  indecent  haste.  Whilst  he  presided,  it  was 
rare  that  any  cause  before  a  jury  ever  occupied  more 
than  a  single  day,  and  none  is  remembered  that  ex- 
tended beyond   two. 

It  may  be  inferior  to  the  dignity  of  the  occasion  to 
indulge  in  professional  anecdotes.  The  promptness, 
however,  with  which  he  disposed  of  a  case  of  some 
novelty  on  the  circuit,  may  justify  a  passing  notice. 
The  plaintiff  and  defendent  had  disputed  on  a  matter 
of  law,  and  growing  warm  in  the  controversy,  laid  a 
wager  on  the  ({uestion  of  whether  or  not  the  law  was 
as  affirmed  by  the  plaintiff;  and  a  suit  was  brought  to 
have  the  point  determined.  After  the  contract  of  wa- 
ger had  been  proved,  the  plaintiff  rested.  The  Judge 
called  on  the  counsel  for  the  plaintiff  to  prove  that  he 
had  won.  The  counsel  replied  that  that  depended  on 
the  I'oint    of   law    wliich  he     submitted    to    his  Honor. 


18  Life  and  Cliaracter  of  the 

The  Judge  rejoined,  that  it  was  oue  of  facts  in  the 
the  controversy^,  on  which  he  was  forbidden  to  express 
an  opinion;  but  for  then"  trifling  with  the  Court  in 
instituting  such  an  action,  he  ordered  it  to  be  dismiss- 
ed, and  each  party  to  pay  half  the  costs,  with  an  inti- 
mation, that  it  was  leniency  in  the  Court  to  stop  with 
no  greater  penalty.  It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  about 
the  same  time,  as  we  since  learn  fi^om  the  reports, 
Chief  Justice  Abbott,  in  the  King  Bench  in  England,, 
ordered  a  cause  "  to  be  struck  out  of  the  paper,"  the 
subject  of  the  action  being  a  wager  on  a  dog-fight, 
upon  the  ground  that  it  was  insignificant,  and  it  would 
be  a  waste  of  time  to  try  it. 

In  administering  the  criminal  law,  in  which  the  ex- 
tent of  punishment  generally  depended  on  the  discre- 
tion of  the  Judge,  his  sentences  were  such  as  to  in- 
spire evil  doers  with  terror,  but  eminently  tended  to 
give  protection  to  society  and  confidence  to  honest  and 
law-abiding  men. 

His  accession  to  the  Bench  ot  the  Supreme  Court 
was  a  source  of  general  satisfaction  to  the  profession,, 
and  to  the  people  of  the  State,  by  whom  his  enlight- 
ened labors  in  the  circuits  had  been  witnessed  with 
admiration  and  pride.  He  at  once  took  a  conspicuous 
part  in  the  proceedings  of  this  high  tribunal,  and  for 
twenty-three  years,  that  he  continuously  sat  there,  pro- 
bably delivered  a  greater  number  of  the  opinions  on 
which  its  judgments  were  founded,  than  any  Judge 
with  whom  in  this  long  career  he  was  associated. 
These  opinions  are  found  through  more  than  twent^^- 
five  volumes  of  books  of  reports,   and   form   the   bulk 


lion.  Thomas  Ruffin.  1^ 

of  our  jiulieial  literature   for  a  full   geueration.     They 
embrace    topics    of    almost    every     variety,   civil    and 
criminal,   legal  and  equitable,   concerning    probate   and 
administration,     marriage     and    divorce,     slavery    and 
fieedom,   and  constitutional  law,  wliicli  can  enter  into 
judicial   controversy,   in   the    condition   of  society  then 
prevailing  in   the   State,     and   constitute   memorials   of 
her  jurisprudence,  by  which  the  members  of  the  pro- 
fession  are   content    she  shall  be  judged  in   the   pres- 
ent  age    and    by    posterity.     They    have    been    cited 
with  approbation   in   the  American   courts.    State    and 
National,   by  eminent    legal    authors,   and    in   the    ju- 
dicial   deliberations    of    Westminster    Hall  ;     and     the 
Xorth   Carolina  lawyer  who   can   invoke   one    of  them 
as  a   case   in   point    with     his    own,   generally   consid- 
ers  that  he   is    possessed   of   an    impenetrable    shield. 
It  has  been  rare  in   England   that    a  Judge   or  Ad- 
vocate   has     reached    high    distinction    in   the    courts 
both   of  common    law    and   Equity.     The    student     of 
the  judicial   arguments    of    Chief    Justice   Ruffin   will 
be   at  a  loss  to  determine  in  which  of  these  branches 
of  legal  science  he  most  excelled.    To  the  votary   of 
the   common  law,   fresh  from  the  perusal  of  the  black 
letter  of  the  times   of  the   Tudors   and   early   Stuarts, 
and    captivated    with    its     artificial    refinements    and 
technical    distinctions    as   to   rights    and  remedies,   he 
would  appear   to    have    pursued  his    professional  edu- 
cation upon  the   intimation     of    Butler    in  his   remin- 
iscences,  that  "  he    is  the  best  lawyer,   and  will  suc- 
ceed best    in    his  profession,     who    best    understands 
Coke   upon  Littleton  ;"   or,   advancing    to    the   modern 


20  Life  and  Cliaracter  of  the 

ages  of  greater  enlightenment  and  freer  intercourse 
among  nations,  that  he  had  made  a  specialty  of  the 
law  of  contracts,  bills  of  exchange  and  commercial 
law  generally;  whilst  his  expositions  of  Equity  causes 
win  satisfy  any  impartial  critic,  that  he  was  at  least 
equally  a  proficient  and  master  of  the  principles  and 
practice  of  the  jurisprudence  of  the  English  Chancery, 
and  would  induce  the  belief  that,  like  Sir  Samuel 
Eomilly  or  Sir  William  Grant,  his  practice  at  the 
bar  had  been  confined  to  this  branch  of  th*  pro- 
fession. The  minute  distinctions  between  the  limits 
of  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Courts  of  Equity  and  com- 
mon law,  he  comprehended  and  illustrated  with  a 
rare  discrimination  and  accuracy. 

During  the  term  of  his  service  in  that  Court,  it 
will  be  remembered  by  the  profession,  that  three 
great  departures  were  made  from  long  established  pre- 
cedents in  the  EngUsh  Courts  of  Equity,  which  have 
tended  to  give  simplicity  to  our  system,  and  to  free 
it  from  the  embarrassment  and  confusion  of  the  au- 
thorities in  the  English  cases ;  namel}^.  First,  in  ad- 
hering to  the  direction  of  the  statute  of  Frauds, 
and  refusing  to  decree  the  specific  execution  of  a 
contract  for  the  conveyance  of  real  estate  required 
to  be  in  writing,  upon  the  ground  that  the  parties 
had  acted  upon  their  agreement,  and  that  it  had 
been  partially  carried  into  execution.  Second,  in  dis- 
carding the  doctrine  that  a  vendor  who  had  sold 
land  and  parted  with  the  title,  trusting  his  vendee 
for  the  purchase  money,  yet  had  a  lien  on  the  land 
as  a  security  for  its   payment.    Third,   in    negativing 


Hon,  Thomas  Riiffin.  21 

likewise  the  EDglish  doctriue  of  a  married  woman's 
equitable  right  to  a  settlement  for  lier  maintenance 
before  her  husband  should  invoke  the  power  of  the 
court  to  reduce  her  estate  to  possession.  These  have 
been  acknowledged  as  salutary  reforms  both  at 
home  and  abroad,  in  all  of  which  Chief  Justice  Euf- 
fin  concurred  and  delivered  leading  arguments  in  their 
support.  Accustomed  tenaciously  to  adhere  to  prece- 
dents upon  the  theory,  that  the  wisdom  of  a  suc- 
cession of  learned  Judges,  concurred  in  or  tolerated 
by  the  Legislature  from  age  to  age,  is  superior  to 
that  of  any  one  man,  and  that  certainty  in  the  rules 
of  the  law  is  of  more  importance  than  their  abstract 
justice;  yet  where  there  had  been  no  domestic  prece- 
dent, and  those  abroad  were  at  variance  with  the  com- 
mand of  a  statute  or  with  obvious  principles,  he  readi- 
ly embraced  these  opportunities  to  symmetrize  and  per- 
fect the  system  of  practical  morality  administered  in 
the  American  courts  of  Equity. 

His  familiar  knowledge  of  banking  and  mercantile 
transactions  and  skilfuluess  in  accounts,  gave  him  a 
conceded  eminence  in  the  innumerable  causes  involving 
inquiries  of  this  nature.  During  his  presidency  in  the 
Supreme  Court,  it  cannot  fail  to  be  remarked  that 
there  was  a  great  advance  in  the  accuracy  of  pleadings 
hi  Equity  causes,  and  in  a  general  extension  of  the 
knowledge  of  Equity  practice  throughoat  the  circuits. 
And  the  precision  and  propriety  of  entries  in  every 
species  of  procedure  were  brought  to  a  high  state  of 
perfection,  mainly  by  his  investigations  and  labors,  in 
conjunction  with  those  of  that  most  worthy  gentleman, 


22  Life  and  Character  of  the 

and  modest  but  able  lawyer,  Edmund  B.  Freeman, 
Esquire,  late  Clerk  of  the  Court,  whose  virtues  and 
pubhc  usefulness,  connected  as  he  was  for  so  many- 
years  in  close  and  friendly  association  with  the  imme- 
diate subject  of  om^  remarks,  now  likewise  gone  down 
beyond  the  horizon,  I  am  gratified  the  opportunity 
serves  to  commemorate. 

In  the  department  of  the  law  peculiarly  American,  in 
which  there  comes  up  tlie  question,  whether  the  Legis- 
lature can  legislate  to  the  extent  it  has  assumed,  or 
other  expositions  of  the  Constitutions  of  the  State  or 
Union,  though  the  occasions  for  such  exercises  were 
rare  in  the  quiet  times  of  his  judicial  hfe.  Chief  Jus- 
tice Euflin  shone  to  no  less  advantage,  than  in  those 
dependent  on  municipal  regulations.  His  conversancy 
with  pohtical  ethics,  pubhc  law  and  English  and 
American  history,  seems  to  have  assigned  to  him  the 
task  of  delivering  the  opinions  on  this  head,  which 
have  most  attracted  general  attention.  That  delivered 
by  him  in  the  case  of  Hoke  against  Henderson  in 
which  it  was  held,  that  the  Legislature  could  not, 
by  a  sentence  of  its  own  in  the  form  of  an  enact- 
ment, divest  a  citizen  of  property,  even  in  a  public 
office,  because  the  proceeding  was  an  exercise  of  ju- 
dicial power,  received  the  high  encomium  of  Kent 
and  other  authors  on  constitutional  law;  and  I  hap- 
pened personally  to  witness,  that  it  was  the  main 
authority  relied  on  by  Mr.  Eeverdy  Johnson,  in  the 
argument  for  the  second  time,  of  Ex  parte  Garland, 
which  involved  the  power  of  Congress  by  a  test  oath, 
to    exclude    lawyers    from    practice    in    the    Supreme 


Hon.  Thomas  Buffln. 

Court  of  the  United  States,  for  having  darticipated 
in  civil  war  against  the  govepnment ;  and  in  which, 
its  reasoning  on  the  negative  side  of  tlie  (luestion, 
was  sustained    by  tliat   august  tribunal. 

The  singular  felicity  and  aptitude  with  which  he 
denuded  his  judgments  of  all  extraneous  matter,  and 
expounded  the  very  principles  of  the  case  in  hand, 
usually  citing  authority  only  to  uphold  what  had 
been  demonstrated  without  it,  is  the  most  striking 
feature  in  his  numerous  opinions.  No  commonplaces 
or  servile  copying  of  the  ideas  of  others  fill  the 
space  to  be  occupied,  but  a  manly  comprehension  of 
the  subject  in  its  entire  proportions,  illustrated  by 
well  considered  thought  and  lucid  and  generally  grace- 
ful expression.  His  learning  was  profound,  but  not 
so  deep  as  his  own  reflections.  His  powers  of  ab- 
straction subjected  every  thing  to  scrutiny,  and  rare 
was  the  fallacy  which  passed  through  that  crucible 
without  exposure.  If  he  did  not  develope  new  truths 
the  old  were  made  to  shine  with  a  fresher  lustre, 
h'om  having  undergone  his  processes  of  thought  and 
illustration.  His  stjie  of  writing  was  elevated  and 
worthy  of  the  themes  he  discussed.  His  language 
well  selected,  and  exhibiting  a  critical  acquaintance 
with  English  philology.  A  marked  characteristic  in 
his  wiitings,  as  it  was  also  in  his  conversation,  was 
the  frequent,  dextrous,  and  strikingly  appropriate  use 
Tie  made  of  the  brief  words  of  our  language,  usually 
of  Saxon  derivation ;  as  in  his  response  to  the  trib- 
ute of  the  bar  to  the  memory  of  Judge  Gaston : 
*'  We  knew  that  he  was,  indeed,  a  good  man  and  a 
great  Judge." 


24  Life  and  Character  of  the 

In  tl\e  autumn  of  1852,  while  in  the  zenith  of  his 
reputation,  and  not  yet  pressed  with  the  weight  of 
years,  Chief  Justice  Euffin  resigned  his  office  and  re- 
tired, as  he  supposed  forever,  from  the  professional 
employments  he  had  so  long  and  with  so  much  re- 
nown pursued.  But  on  the  death  of  his  successor  and 
friend.  Chief  Justice  Kash,  in  December,  1858,  he 
was  called  by  the  almost  unanimous  vote  of  the 
General  Assembly  then  in  session,  to  fill  the  vacancy, 
and  sat  again  as  a  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court 
until  the  autumn  of  1859,  when  failing  health  ren- 
dered his  labors  irksome,  and  he  took  his  final  leave 
of  judicial  life.  Six  years  of  rest  in  his  rural  home 
had  induced  nothing  of  rust  or  desuetude :  he  wore 
the  ermine  as  naturally  and  gracefully  as  if  he  had 
never  been  divested  of  its  folds;  his  judicial  argu- 
ments at  this  time  evince  all  that  vigor  of  thought 
and  freshness  and  copiousness  of  learning  which  had 
prompted  an  old  admirer  to  say  of  him,  that  he 
was  a  ^*  born  lawyer."  It  is  not  improbable  that  this 
preservation  in  full  panoply  was  in  some  design 
aided  by  the  circumstance,  that  in  a  desire  to  be  useful 
in  any  sphere  for  which  he  was  fitted,  he  had  ac- 
cepted the  office  of  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  in  the 
county  of  Alamance,  in  which  he  then  resided,  and 
had  held  the  County  Courts  with  the  lay  justices 
during  this  period.  Though  near  ten  years  later,  and 
when  he  had  passed  the  age  of  eighty,  in  a  matter 
of  seizure,  in  which  he  took  some  interest  for  a 
friend,  under  the  revenue  laws,  in  the  Circuit  Court 
of  the  United  States,  a  branch  of  practice  to    which 


Hon,  TlwDKis  Buffin.  25 

lie  bad  uot  beeu  habituated  by  experience,  I  had 
occasion  to  obserte  that  he  was  as  ready  with  his 
pen  in  framing  the  pleadings,  without  books  of  au- 
thority or  precedent,  as  any  proctor  in  a  Court  of 
admiralty. 

In  looking  back  upon  his  long  life  devoted  to  the 
profession,  and  the  monuments  of  his  diligence,  learn- 
ing and  striking  ability  that  he  left  behind  him,  it 
is  no  extravagance  of  eulogy  to  affirm,  that  if  the 
State  or  any  American  State  has  fostered  great  ad- 
vocates, counsellors  or  Judges,  he  assuredly  was  of 
this  class. 

But  when,  as  Coke  to  Littleton,  we  bid  "  Fare- 
well to  om-  jurisprudent,"  who  had  basked  so  long 
in  the  '*  gladsome  light"  of  jurisprudence,  we  have 
not  wholly  fulfilled  the  task  assigned  us.  Jurispru- 
dence was  indeed  his  forte ;  and  that  in  its  most 
enlarged  sense,  embracing  the  science  of  right  in  all 
its  aspects.  Considering  how  thoroughly  he  had  mas- 
tered the  systems  prevaihng  in  England  and  the  Uni- 
ted States,  the  fullness  of  his  knowledge  in  kindred 
studies  and  the  facility  with  which  he  labored  and 
wi'ote,  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  he  did  not  betake 
himself  to  professional  authorship.  But  there  are  other 
aspects  of  his  character  than  that  ot  a  lawyer  and 
Judge. 

At  an  early  period  he  became  the  proprietor  of  an 
estate  on  Dan  river,  in  Kockingham,  on  which  he  es- 
tablished a  plantation  at  once,  and  gave  personal  di- 
rection to  its  profitable  cultivation  from  that  time  until 
his  death.     Carrying   his    family   to    Ealeigh    for  a  so- 


26         .  Life  and  Character  of  the 

journ  of  twelve  months  upon  assuming  the  Presidency 
of  a  Bank  as  akeacly  stated,  he  removed  thence  to 
Haw  river,  in  Alamance,  in  1830,  and  there  under  his 
own  eye  carried  on  the  operations  of  a  planter  with 
success  until  the  year  1866,  when  the  results  of  the 
war  deprived  him  of  laborers,  and  he  sold  the  estate 
and  removed  again  to  Hillsborough.  The  law  has  been 
said  by  some  of  its  old  authors,  to  be  a  jealous 
mistress,  and  to  allow  nb  rival  in  the  attentions  of 
its  votary.  Chief  Justice  Euffin,  however,  while  dili- 
gently performing  the  duties  of  his  great  office,  and 
keeping  up  with  the  labors  of  his  cotemporaries, 
Lynnhurst,  Brougham,  Tenterden  and  Denman,  in 
England,  and  the  numerous  Courts  exercising  like 
jurisdictions  in  America,  found  leisure  to  manage  his 
farm  at  home  as  well  as  to  give  direction  to  that 
in  Eockingham.  And  this,  not  in  the  ineffective 
manner  which  has  attended  the  like  efforts  of  some 
professional  men,  but  with  present  profit  and  im- 
provement of  the  estates.  From  early  life  he  ap- 
peared to  have  conceived  a  fondness  for  agriculture, 
including  horticulture  and  the  growing  of  fruit  trees 
and  flowers,  which  his  home  in  the  country  seemed 
to  have  been  selected  to  indulge.  Here  for  thirty- 
fiye  years,  in  the  recess  of  his  Courts,  he  found  re- 
creation in  these  pursuits  and  in  the  rearing  of  do- 
mestic animals ;  the  f-esult  of  which  was  the  most 
encouraging  success  in  orchards,  grapery,  gardenc  ereal 
crops,  flocks  and  herds.  Combining  a  knowledge  of 
the  general  principles  of  science,  with  fine  powers  of 
observation,  and  the  suggestions  of  the  most  ap- 
proved Agricultural    periodicals,   he    was    prepared   to 


Hon.  Thomas  Ruffin.  2< 

avail  himselt'  in  practice  of  the  highest  iutelhgence 
ill  the  art.  It  was  therefore  uo  empty  comphment 
to  a  great  jurist  and  leading  citizen,  when  the  Ag- 
ricultural society  of  Xorth  Carolina,  in  1854,  elected 
him  to  its  presidency  after  his  retirement  from  the 
Bt-nc'h,  hut  the  devotion  to  public  uses  and  service, 
of  an  experience  and  information  in  the  cultivation 
of  the  soil,  and  all  its  manifold  connections  and  de- 
pendencies, which  few  other'  men  in  the  State  pos- 
sessed. He  was  continued  in  this  distinguished  po- 
sition for  six  years,  when  declining  health  demanded 
his  retirement;  and  at  no  time  have  the  interests 
of  the  society  been  more  prosperous,  its  public  ex- 
hibitions more  spirited;  and  it  may  be  added,  that 
on  no  occasion  did  he  ever  manifest  more  satisfac- 
tion  than   in  the  reunions   of  its  members. 

His  farming  was  not  that  of  a  mere  amatcun  in 
the  art,  designed  as  in  the  case  of  other  public 
characters  of  whom  we  have  read,  to  dignify  retire- 
ment, to  amuse  leisure  or  gratif}^  taste,  though  few 
had  a  higher  rehsh  for  the  ornamental,  especiaUy  in 
shrubbery  and  flowers.  This,  he  could  not,  or  did 
not  think  he  could  afford,  but  to  realize  subsistence 
and  profit,  to  make  money,  to  provide  for  his  own, 
and  to  enable  him  to  contribute  in  charity  to  the 
wants  of  others.  He  consequently  entered  into  all 
the  utilities,  economies  and  practicabilities  of  husr 
bandry  in  its  minute  details,  realizing  the  English 
proverb,  quoted  in  the  writings  of  Sir  Francis  Head, 
that  *'  a  good  elephant  should  be  able  to  raise  a 
cannon   or  pick   up   a  pin." 


28  Life  ami  Clmracter  of  the 

The  liberal  hospitality  that  he  dispensed  through- 
out life  was  a  most  conspicuous  feature  in  the  pe- 
riod thus  devoted  to  practical  agriculture.  His  na- 
ture was  eminently  social,  his  acquaintence  in  his 
high  position  extensive,  his  dwelling  near  one  of  the 
great  highways  of  travel  through  the  State  in  the 
old  modes  of  conveyance,  easy  of  access ;  and  the 
exuberance  of  his  farm,  garden,  orchards  and  domes- 
tic comforts  were  never  more  agreeably  dispensed, 
than  when  ministered  to  the  gratification  of  his 
friends  under  his  own  roof  The  cordiality  and  ease 
with  which  he  did  the  honors  of  an  entertainer  in 
an  old-fashioned  southern  mansion,  is  among  the 
pleasant  recollections  of  not  a  few  between  the  Por 
tomac  and  the  Mississippi.  It  was  here,  indeed,  sur- 
rounded by  a  family  worthy  of  the  care  and  affection 
he  bestowed  upon  them,  relaxed  from  the  severe 
studies  and  anxieties  of  official  life,  in  unreserved 
and  cheerful  intercourse,  that,  after  all,  he  appeared 
most  favorably. 

By  his  industry,  frugality  and  apitude  for  the 
management  of  property,  he  accumulated  in  a  long 
life  an  estate  more  ample  than  usually  falls  to  the 
lot  of  a  member  of  the  profession  in  this  State; 
and  although  much  reduced  by  the  consequences  of 
the  civil  war,  it  was  still  competent  to  the  comfort 
of  his  large  family. 

Judge  Euffin  was,  until  superseded  by  the  changes 
made  in  1868,  the  oldest  Trustee  of  the  University 
of  the  State,  and  always  one  of  the  most  efficient 
and  active  members  of  the  Board.  For  more  than  half 


Hon,  Thomas  Euffin.  29 

a  century   on  terms  of  intimate   intercourse    with    its 
Presidents,  Caldwell  and   Swain,   and  the  leacUng  Pro- 
fessors,  ]\ritchell,    Phillips    and     their     associates,    he 
was  their    ready    counsellor   and  friend    in    any  emer- 
gency;   whether  in   making  appeals  to  the  Legislature 
in   behalf  of   the  institution   for  support  and  assistance 
in  its  seasons   of  adversity,  or  in    enforcing    discipline 
and   maintaining     order,    advancing    the    standard    of 
education,  or  cheering    the    labors  both  of   the  Fac- 
ulty  and   students.     His  criterion  of  a  collegiate   edu- 
cation  was  high,   and  he    illustrated    by  his   own  ex- 
ample the  rewards  of  diligent  and  faithful  study.     He 
retained   a    better    acquaintance   with    the    dead    lan- 
<niaf^es  than   anv   of  his  compeers  we  have  named  ex- 
cept   Gaston,  Murphey  and  Taylor.     In  ethics,  history 
and  the   standard   British  classics,   his    knowledge   was 
profound.     In   science    and    in    natural    history,    more 
especiahy   in    chemistry    and    those    departments    per- 
taining   to     Agriculture,     Horticulture,   Pomology  and 
the    hke,  his    attainments    were  very    considerable,   as 
they  were  also   in  works  of  Mies  lettres,  Poe:ry,  taste 
and   tiction,   at   least   down    to  the   end  of  the   novels 
of   Scott   and  Cooper.      He  worthily  received  the  hon- 
orary degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws  from    the  University 
of  North  Carolina  in  1834,   and   the    like  honor  is  be- 
lieved  to    have    been    subsequently    conferred    by    his 
Alma  Mater  at  Princeton. 

His  style  and  manner  in  conversation,  in  winch  he 
took  great  delight  and  l)ore  a  distinguished  part  in 
all  companies,  abounded  in  pleasiuitry,  but  exhibited 
the     same    wide    range    of    thought    and    information 


30  Life  and  Character  of  the 

with  his  pubhc  performances,  and  was  full  of  enter- 
tainment and  instruction  to  the  young.  His  temper- 
ament was  mercurial,  his  actions  quick  and  energetic, 
and  his  whole  bearing  in  the  farthest  possible  degree 
removed  from  sloth,  inertness  and  despondency.  In 
pohtical  sentiment  he  accorded  with  the  school  of 
Jefferson,  and  for  more  than  forty  years  was  a  con- 
stant reader  of  the  Kichmond  Inquirer,  the  editor 
of  which,  Mr.  Eitchie,  was  his  relative ;  though  no 
one  entertained  a  more  exalted  reverence  for  the 
character,  abilities  and  patriotism  of  Marshall,  with 
whom  he  cherished  a  familiar  acquaintance  while  in 
practice  before  him  at  the  bar,  and  after  his  own 
elevation  to  the  Bench.  Later  in  life  he  formed  a 
like  kind  and  admiring  acquaintance  with  Chancellor 
Kent. 

In  the  muter  of  1861,  the  Legislature  of  ]S"orth 
Carohna,  having  acceded  to  the  proposition  of  Vir- 
ginia, on  the  approach  of  the  late  rupture  between  the 
States  of  the  Union,  to  assemble  a  body  of  delegates 
in  the  city  of  Washington,  to  consider  and  recom- 
mend terms  of  reconciliation.  Judge  Kuffin  was  ap- 
pointed one  of  the  members  in  the  "Peace  Confer- 
ence," and  is  understood  to  have  taken  a  conspicu- 
ous part  in  its  deliberations  and  debates.  We  have 
the  testimony  of  General  Scott,  in  his  Autobiography, 
already  quoted,  that  his  counsels  in  that  assembly 
were  altogether  pacific.  President  Buchanan,  in  his 
work  in  defence  of  his  action  in  that  important  crisis, 
makes   assertion   of  the  same   fact.     After  the    failure 


Hon.  Thomas  Ruffin.  13 

of  the  efforts  at  adjiistmeut,  aud  the  war  in  bis 
opinion  had  become  a  necessity,  Judge  Euffin  accep- 
ted a  seat  in  the  State  Convention  of  18C1,  and 
threw  into  its  support  all  the  zeal  and  energy  of 
his  earnest  and  ardent  temper;  one  of  his  sons,  a 
grandson  and  other  near  connections  taking  part  in 
the  dangers  and  privations  of  its  camps  and  battle- 
fields. When  defeat  came,  he  yielded  an  honest 
submission  and  acquiescence,  and  renewed  in  perfect 
good  fiith  his  allegiance  to  the  government  of  the 
United  States.  Too  far  advanced  in  years  to  be  Ion. 
ger  active  in  affiiirs,  bis  chief  concern  in  regard  to 
the  public  interests  thenceforward,  was  for  the  con- 
servation of  the  public  weal,  and  that  the  violent 
convulsion  of  which  we  had  felt  the  shock  and  the 
change  might  be  permitted  to  pass  without  any  se- 
rious disturbance  of  the  great  and  essential  principles 
of  freedom  and  right  which  it  had  been  the  favorite 
study   of  his  hfe  to  understand  and  illustrate. 

With  the  close  of  the  war  his  farm  about  his  man- 
sion having  experienced  the  desolation  of  an  army  en- 
campment, and  its  system  of  labor  being  abolished, 
he  felt  unequal  to  the  enterprise  of  its  resuscitation 
and  culture,  and  therefore  disposed  of  the  estate  and 
again  took  up  his  abode  in  Hillsborough.  Here,  in 
occasional  occupation  as  a  referee  of  legal  controver- 
sies, in  directing  the  assiduous  culture  of  his  garden 
and  ground-,  in  desultory  reading,  in  which  he  now 
and  then     recurred   to    his    old     favorites   among  the 


32  Life  and  Character  of  the 

novels  of  Scott,  in  the  duties  of  hospitality  and  the 
converse  of  friends  in  the  bosom  of  his  family,  he 
passed  the  evening  of  his  days.  In  the  sense  of  im" 
becihty  or  decrepitude,  he  never  grew  old,  but  was 
blessed  with  the  enjoyment  of  a  remarkable  intellec- 
tual vigor  and  fine  flow  of  spirits  almost  till  his 
dissolution.  And  in  anticipation  of  death  in  his  last 
illness,  he  laid  an  injunction  on  his  physician  to  ad- 
minister to  him  no  anod^me  which  should  deprive 
him  of  consciousness,  as  he  did  not  wish  to  die  in 
a  state  of  insensibihty. 

On  the  15th  of  January,  1870,  after  an  illness  of 
but  four  days,  though  he  had  been  an  invalid  from 
an  affection  of  the  lungs  for  a  year  or  more,  he 
breathed  his  last,  in  the  83d  year  of  his  age.  His 
end  was  resigned  and  peaceful,  and  in  the  consola- 
tion of  an  enhghtened  and  humble  christian  faith. 
Por  more  than  forty  years  a  communicant  in  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  church,  he  was  one  of  its  most 
active  members  in  the  State,  and  more  than  once  rep- 
resented the  Diocese  in  the  Triennial  Conventions  of 
the  Union. 

The  venerable  companion  of  his  lite,  a  bride  when 
not  yet  fifteen,  a  wife  for  more  than  sixty  years, 
yet  survives  to  receive  the  gratitude  and  affection  of 
a  numerous  posterity  and  the  reverence  and  esteem 
of  troops  of  friends. 

This  imperfect  offering  is  a  memoir,  not  a  panegyric. 
It  contains  not  history,  but  ^((/rticulas  Mstorice — scraps 


Hon.    Thomas    Rujlin.  33 

of  bistoiy  which  it  is  hoped  may  not  be  without 
their  use  to  the  .  future  student  oi  our  annals,  for 
the  eharaeter  we  eonteniphite  is  destined  to  be  his- 
torical. His  hfe  was  passed  in  the  pul)lie  \iew  in 
the  most  important  public  functions — in  contact  with 
the  most  gifted  and  cultivated  men  of  the  State  for 
half  a  century;  it  ran  througli  two  generations  of 
lawyers.  It  was  given  to  a  profession  in  which  were 
engaged  many  of  the  first  minds  of  other  States,  and 
I  can  call  to  recollection  no  Judge  of  any  State  ot 
the  Union  who  in  that  period  has  left  behind  him 
nobler  or  more  numerous  memorials  ot  erudition,  dili- 
gence and  ability  in  the  departments  of  the  law^  he 
was  called  to  administer.  The  study  of  his  perfor- 
mances will  at  least  serve  to  correct  the  error  of 
opinion  prevailing  with  many  at  the  North,  that  the 
intellectual  activity  of  the  South  delights  itself  only 
in  politics. 

To  the  members  of  the  Agricultural  Society  and  to 
this  audience  his  devotion  to,  and  success  in  agricul- 
ture is  a  sul)ject  of  only  secondary  interest  to  his  pro- 
fessional fame.  It  has  been  remarked  by  one  of  the 
British  essayists,  as  "  a  saying  ot  dunces  in  all  ages, 
that  men  of  genius  are  unfit  for  business."  It  is  per- 
haps a  kindred  fallacy  to  wiiich  pedantry  and  sloth 
have  given  as  much  countenance  on  the  one  hand  as 
blissful  ignorance  on  the  other,  that  high  culture  and 
enulition  as  in  the  case  of  the  learned  professions, 
is  incompatible  with  success  in  practical  atlairs  in 
other  departments.  We  have  before  us  the  life  of  one 
who  demonstrated   in   his  own  person,  that  it   is  pos- 


34     Life  and  Characttr  of  the  Hon.  Thomas  Ruffin. 

sible  for  a  great  aud  profouud  lawyer  to  take  a  lead- 
ing part  and  become  a  shining  liglit  in  practically 
promoting  the  first  and  greatest  of  the  industrial 
arts,  and  although  there  be  no  natural  connection 
between  these  occupations,  that  tlie  same  well-direct- 
ed industry,  patience  and  energy  which  had  achieved 
success  in  the  one,  was  equal  to  a  like  triumph  in 
the  other ;  whilst  in  high  probity,  in  stainless  mor- 
als, in  social  intercourse,  in  the  amenities  of  life,  and 
the  domestic  affections  and  duties,  his  example  will 
be  cherished  in  the  recollection  of  his  friends,  and 
may  well  be  commended  to  the  imitation  of  our 
youth. 


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